Special From Wake Forest Contributor: Nut-shot Special!!!

What a day Sunday was- I watch Ackbar (that would be Shelden Williams….did you know that he was in Star Wars as discovered by the ACC Basketblog way back in January?) and JJ piss away Wake’s regular season tournament championship in the last 3 minutes of the UNC-dook game, watch Ill, UK, and KU lose, hopefully sowing up Wake’s #1 NCAA Tourney seed, and then sit down to watch the Wake-State game. Cable screws up, so I miss the first 5 minutes or so. I see the “incident” involving the lower mid-section of Da Jewels and Paul’s hand, watch the next 15 or so minutes of game action, and then the cable goes out again. I only got to see the remaining 4 minutes of the game. Nice win, if you take all the extra-curriculars out of the picture. But nobody wants to talk about the game. Everyone wants to talk about “nut-gate ’05.” Here are my thoughts:

To Chris Paul- you are better than that. Chris, I know you are a heck of a player. I know it gets reported that you are a solid person as well. And I further know that there are plenty of good people who can be maniacs on the court and nice as day off of it (for example, look no further than the co-owner of the site, Ed “Poppa was a principal, times was hard” Hanes, who while being an all-around good guy, was known to take whatever steps necessary on the court to win games- up to and including body shots to the opposition). But the fact remains that actions like yours against Hodge last night mark people.

People don’t remember Kermit Washington as a player- they remember him laying out Rudy T. Julius Hodge himself was the POY in the ACC last year, and people still talk about his issue with Steve Blake. Given all the good publicity you have been given- the ESPN story on scoring 61, the SI article recently, all the quotes from Prosser, Vitale, and the rest of the media about your personality, values, and character- cheap shots (whether real or perceived) will make others that much more likely to hate you.

I know you have taken as much or more physical abuse than anybody else in the ACC this year (if not the NCAAs). I know that Elton Brown elbowed you in the back of the head (to no call by the refs). I know that the NCSU guys were allowed to push you out of bounds on a double-team last night (to no call by the refs). I know that the Rat that Walks Like a Man started a walk-on for the express purpose of fouling you (ironically, because you weren’t injured, nobody suspended the Rat like they did Coach Cheney up at Temple). And I know that Hodge was yanking on your injured hand not 10 seconds prior to your retaliation.

But unfortunately, that can’t matter. You can’t react like others do, because when you react, it encourages the behavior. If you want the physical behavior to stop, you have to demonstrate that there is no benefit to the action. You have to demonstrate that cheap shots toward you will not get you out of your game. If you don’t, what you see now will be nothing compared to what you see in the NBA. In all likelihood, you will be suspended for 1 game- use that time to reflect on what happened, and steel yourself to not let it happen again.

To Coach Prosser - I understand you could not see what happened during the game, so I can understand not taking any action until after you see the film. But when you do- suspend Chris Paul for a game. Make it clear that whether he was provoked or not, those types of actions are not tolerated, and go with it from there. But do not fail to take action. Inaction in this case will show weakness, and you are better than that.

Am I the only one shocked that Hodge could take such a vicious shot to the na-na’s, be on the ground for 2-3 minutes, and then miraculously play the remainder of the game? Not to take anything away from the cheap shot or anything, but I’m just saying…

Ben is an Attorney in Charlotte and the owner of new hardwood floors and a Canary Yellow kitchen and family room. Ha ha, pastels everywhere!